Ranking of Ironman courses by Finish Time (Page 4)

OMG, where did that come from?  Geesh.

I am not good enough and never will be but one need to do an NA IM and qualify for Kona to earn my respect.  Not all races are equal and not all races have the same level of competition.  Each man or woman is free to interpret the data in the OP however they see fit and there is nothing right or wrong about that.  I look at it and see that Austria looks 'easier' than KY.  That may or may not be true but I was planning on do that race before I saw this thread and I have to admit it was comforting to see Austria nearer the bottom than the top....regardless of the reasons.

~Mike

For me a difficult bike profile is Wiesbaden 70.3, happening in 2 days or Lanzarote or Embrun or Alpe d'Huez. IM WI profile is not harder than IM Switzerland for example. I see that 9h27 was the qualify time in Switzerland and 10:1x in IM WI. That's my consideration.
Then of course, if you tell me that IM WI had 130F temperature, with bees invasion and mined road...ok yes...it is tough and I respect the 10:1x qualify time at IM WI

For Europeans fast race: which one? pls tell me which is fast. Antwerp is fast, it is a 70.3 and you have strong wind, always. For IM, they say Frankfurt is fast...yes I agree, but far away from the "fast" concept of IM FL or AZ. Then Austria they changed the bike loop and now it is a little bit slower than it was.
We don't have here IM AZ or FL like...at all. and I would love to have one like that around here.

Edited by Plissken74 2010-08-13 8:48 AM

Crap, why'd you have to go and post that.  :-)  Well hopefully it is still relatively fast....I will slow it down some.

~Mike

See, this is where we seem to not be seeing eye to eye. A fast course is great to set a PR, but everyone is going to be fatser, so you there is no net gain of advantage for you, you'll finish sooner btu it doesn't mean you will be in the money as the top guys are going to finsisher even quicker. At IMAZ in my AG, if you went 9:33 you had to hope for a rolldown, whcih did occur, so the last slot went 9:38. The winnner in M40-44 finsihed in 9:10, I was 3rd in 9:20. Now, you take all of us who quyalified to IMOO and we would still be the top guys, just 20min or so slower. See how it works?

Reread my post and realized I left out the operative word "not".  Just had to clarify.  Guess I should do a better job of poofing my posts.  (that was a joke)

BTW- WI qualifies you for next year's Kona. That might make it even more competitive because you can then train for another full year before having to race.

This user's post has been ignored.

This user's post has been ignored.

I look at a fast course as IM FL or AZ because I feel stronger on a flat course. That's it. I am crap on hilly course and I verified it on races, beating team mates easily on a flat and loosing on a hilly one.
Plus...IM AZ is fast, very fast, correct? and you qualify with the same (more or less) time as IM Switzerland...you see that in the end we go again at my initial comment? Of course nothing related to NA triathletes! only a comparison on the qualify times between two races, one very fast and one let's say medium

ah! I didn't know!!! it is a big difference. I give then more value to IMWI.
Then In 13 months it can be that you changed your mind and you are doing horse riding or that you are close to be a champion

After this nice and long thread, I propose to all the people involved to register to IM WI and compete there. It would be a nice competition

I am in too Not looking to qualify of course. Too hard for me there

They should create a Kona only forum so Bryan, Alaina, etc all can talk about going to HI in there. That way I don't have to read their posts while I am a mess and keep injuring myself. It hurts my self-esteem, j*rks!

Filipo - if you think some of the NA course might suit better your racing strengths then come join the party. But as Bryan/Fred suggested, those at the front are very competitive and you'll need to be ready for that. There fields overall might not be as deep in general like in Europe, but the top 5-10 guys per age group going after Kona slots are fast!

This user's post has been ignored.

This user's post has been ignored.

We do- it's called Race Talk hehe.

...and we have a secret handshake, too.

I probably won't be joining you there, at this point just finishing an IM is my goal.  I'm still fairly new to the sport, so hopefully in a few years my abilities and training will put me in a position to at least have a shot. At this point not so much.

Being a fan of the sport I do like to keep tabs on the fast dudes here and I do hope you qualify.

Yes, please do keep poofing. 

Are you gonna wear a Beginner Tri jersey when you race Kona so we can easily find you on TV?

BTW, it was me who made the crack about the KQ thread on the Tri Talk.  I guess that is one way to show the newbies who the studs are on the board....

~Mike

Edited by Rogillio 2010-08-13 11:43 AM

x3. in W25-29 and its very hard to predict about what time you need to go. with 1-2 slots, all it takes is one phenom to knock you out where at another race you could have been a shoe in. having 8 places is nice for knowing about what you have to go time wise even though it is deeper and harder to break into that top 8.

Even though I am still in the lower age groups that have less spots - i still see it as easier than the age groups that get 8 slots.  Like Fred pointed out, 8 slots for 530 people. . or 2 slots for 15-30 people .

I think we are all in agreement that KQ is tough, and you have to be committed to your goals for a long time to have a shot. 

If KQing is a major influence in your decision as far as what IM to enter then there are several things to consider. Finishing times is just one of those and does not tell the whole story.

I specifically chose IMSG because I felt it gave me the best chance to qualify. Why:

1. Date: I felt the May 1 date meant that northerners would have a more difficult time preparing.

2. Course: I lived in Utah 9 years and I knew it would be really hilly. Hills suit my training and racing much better than a flat course. While many will say IMFL is easier, churning the crank for 5 hours on a flat course just didn't suit my strengths, but the climbs and recovery of IMSG were just what I wanted.

3. Finishing Times: There was absolutely no historical data other than course reviews saying this course would be 45 minutes - 1 hour slower than a "flatter" course. With that, I could somewhat predict what time I needed to finish in order to qualify.

4. Who Would Show Up: Since this was a first year race I thought it might discourage some REALLY fast racers to show up. I have no idea if this was the case but it was part of my decision.

Now, if you looked just at the qualifying times of IMSG without knowing anything about the course, that would be the race you'd enter.

I guess the good news is, according to the chart Kona should be really easy compared to IMSG.

Yeah- at LP, there were two studs in my AG! The first girl was 6th overall female, breaking the LP amateur record (hitting 10:00) while #2 broke the record as well, and was only 10min behind #1. Craziness!! Thankfully #1 already got a Kona slot!

This user's post has been ignored.